Dr. Robert Benson, MD

I was his patient in 1980 I was 11 when I started seeing he then Sally Summers he was a great Dr who I thought was a cold man too not so his help changed my life I use his strategies to today at 51!! I will personally never forget the care I got as a child there.

Sent by QTC (VA contractor) for a combat-related PTSD evaluation. Ask for another evaluator! Dr Benson is a Child Psychiatrist with no experience in PTSD. I felt marginalized and his lack of caring or empathy was apparent. He seemed to have his mind up and filled out a required disability benefits questionnaire (DBQ) while we were sitting there. I completed 1 very short test and he made his call in a 45 minute interview. He does not care about Vets or their care and is certainly giving the VA the denial they are looking for from their contractors. I have been going to group and private help for years. He focused on the recent fact that I have cancer vs the PTSD and deferred all symptoms to anxiety. It took my Psychologist a number of sessions and battery of tests to confirm my condition. This evaluator spent very little time and could not possibly ascertain my mental status in 45 mins. Refuse this evaluator and request another.

If you have OCD and can be easily treated with Luvox or SSRI then this is your psychiatrist. If you have OCD that doesn’t respond to first line meds then you will be better off going to another provider. There is no follow through with finding counselor. Having private insurance and finding OCD counselor is too hard for them. Approaches visits with teens similar to a forensic eval. Will say things like “when I was a kid we would our dogs if they kept us awake at night”. Seems to be very knowledgeable about ocd but unable to go a step further than just first line medications. When our teenager started to decline we called his office to see if he could help but was told “there is nothing he can do”. Does not go the extra mile to care for his patients. Forgetful at times. Does not remember medications he has prescribed. Our daughter is now seeing psych nurse practitioner that know more about OCD medications. He has lost his empathy/ desire to go extra mile for those inneed

Dr Benson is primarily in business doing SSA evaluations--and as you can imagine--he is only interested in telling SSA what they want to hear. I was lucky in the fact that my 2 primary care doctors stood with me and disputed the findings of Dr Benson, but the trauma he added to my already unbearable condition was hard to overcome.

Is a very knowledgeable and empathetic doctor who will take time to get to know you. Doesn't push medication as other doctors I've known in the past. Really cares for the well being of his patients and will see you as an individual not a stereotype of your sickness. I'd recommend him to anyone.